First, there are all the different fragrances available.
I’ve been fascinated with fragrance most of my life: perfume, flowers, homemade potpourri, and soaps
wrapped in delicate tissue. But candles have always been the easiest way to
accumulate a lot of different scents in a compact and relatively inexpensive
form.
When I was growing up, I read a lot about
perfumery and the fragrance industry. I could have told you the difference
between a top note and a base note, cologne as opposed to toilet water, and
distillation versus enfleurage. I was particularly interested in people’s
ability to identify different smells and the psychological effects thereof.
Since I had a large collection of scented candles, I ran a totally unscientific
study in which I blindfolded family and friends and handed them candle after
candle, asking them to guess at the scent and describe their reaction to it.
There wasn’t really a purpose behind the questions, just curiosity.
More recently I tried to make use of scent
psychology by deciding to pair my stories to particular scents. For the
Cinderella story I’m currently revising (The
Slipper Ball), I decided to use Yankee Candle’s “Sage and Citrus”. The idea
was that I would burn the candles as I worked, thus forever linking the
fragrance to the work and making it possible to get into the right frame of mind
simply by striking a match. So far I haven’t been consistent enough to get the
plan to work, but I’ve still got plenty of revision ahead. And when I get back to
the story about the psychic teenager (The
Summer of the Deer), I’m going to run through my collection of Tyler Candle
Company’s “Head Over Heals”(sic).
But scent isn’t the only appealing thing about
scented candles. The wax itself has fascinating qualities as it goes from solid
to liquid and back, with a soft, putty-like stage in between. As a kid, I loved
to pour some of the melted wax out and squish it around until it hardened. My
father showed me how to melt blocks of paraffin and make new candles in Dixie
cup molds. Later, I graduated to dipped and braided candles, candles made in a
duckie mold, “whipped wax”, and trying to carve designs in wax with wood
carving tools (hint: warm wax is less likely to break off in chunks.)
I haven’t done much with candle-making for a long
time, but some of the fascination with wax got passed on. For my birthday a
couple of years ago, my daughter borrowed some essential oils and presented me
with lemon- and peppermint-scented candles that she had made while I was out of
the house. Aww…
On top of having fragrance and squishy wax,
scented candles are an opportunity to use decorative candleholders, thereby
delighting the eyes as much as the nose. Elegant or fun, sparkly or subdued—there
are holders for every taste.
And then finally, scented candles are candles.
Their flames are so pretty in a darkened room.
Till next post.
Candles are good for the soul.
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